Addiction
by Cheeseburger of Doom
Summary: They have not switched in years, and least not together. They went their separate ways because they did not get along, but they still understand each other perfectly. They will meet again, and dance again; and maybe they will try again.


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Addiction

Niou and Yagyuu had not used their switch for a long time. Their days of playing doubles together was long gone. Neither played tennis much at all, anymore. They had of course started following very different paths, starting in high school. Niou wanted some kind of adventure, and Yagyuu wanted a high-paying job that would give him security for life, and maybe some recognition as a genius.

They had not used the switch for a long time -- together. Niou sometimes found himself dressed as Yagyuu, or at least as he thought that Yagyuu would dress these days, wandering the streets. It was nice to pretend to be someone else for a while, and escape the life he was leading. He was pretty much satisfied as he was, being that he was a famous rock star and all. It was a fun adventure, and he loved the screaming fangirls.

Still, it was nice to be able to walk around and not be recognized. It was nice to go to the same paces he usually did, and act like someone else. No one could ever tell that it was him. He still knew how to do the switch perfectly. He imagined that Yagyuu would be just like this, now; it was too bad that they'd lost touch, long ago. He would have liked to see his theory proved right.

He would have liked to do the switch with Yagyuu again, for old time's sake.

They'd gone their separate ways a long time ago, as they had always known they would. They were at opposite ends of the scale, the two of them, and they would have never been able to get along for much longer than they already had.

Niou thought of Yagyuu often. He had to, to be able to pretend that he was Yagyuu. He knew that Yagyuu had planned to become a doctor, and he was sure that was what Yagyuu was doing, these days.

He did not think that Yagyuu would ever go to clubs, but he could make that exception while slipping into Yagyuu's character. That was what he was using the Yagyuu mask for, after all -- to go out and not be recognized.

-----

Niou had not seen Yagyuu for years, but one night, he saw Niou. It was at a gay club, one that Niou often went to as himself, because there were no screaming fangirls. A few fanboys, but they tended to be more discreet. Tonight, he had felt like being Yagyuu, though.

As the fake Yagyuu sat and watched, a fake Niou waltzed into the room.

There was only one person who could have been him so flawlessly, and Niou decided that he had to speak to him. Even if it brought up memories that hurt to think about now, even if it made him realize how lonely he'd been since they had parted ways, he needed to speak to this fake Niou.

He walked up to him, quietly, discreetly -- the way that Yagyuu had always walked.

"Well, Niou-kun. Or should it be Niou-san, now?"

The fake Niou's eyes windened a little. "Yagyuu. This is a surprise."

"I hear that you've become a famous singer. You're quite popular these days," the fake Yagyuu said.

"Yes, and you've become a doctor, haven't you Yagyuu?"

The fake Yagyuu nodded. "A successful one, at that. What brings you here tonight?"

"I come here sometimes, because it's safer than the other clubs," the fake Niou replied. "The fanboys tend to be less clingy than the fangirls. What about you?"

"I come here to research the book I've been writing in my free time."

The fake Niou smiled, a smile that did not belong on Niou's face. It was a true Yagyuu smile. "Perfect," he said.

The fake Yagyuu nodded, and grinned a very Niou grin. "You, too. You still know me pretty well, don't you?"

"As well as you know me, anyway."

"Is this what you look like, when you're being you?"

"Yes. Do I look like you do these days?"

"Yes."

"Good."

They exchanged a very long look, and then Yagyuu as Niou reached out a hand.

"Come dance with me, sexy."

"If you wish, Niou-san."

On the dance floor, it was no longer Niou as Yagyuu or Yagyuu as Niou. They were just two people who had found each other again.

Niou was happy to see that Yagyuu still pulled off being Niou so well, and Yagyuu was not surprised to find that Niou still pulled off being Yagyuu so well. They had both changed and gotten older, but neither had ever forgotten what the other was like.

"It doesn't feel like it's been years," Niou breathed into Yagyuu's ear.

"No, it doesn't."

There were no more words for a while after that, there was only the music, and the dance. The beat of the music struck their souls, and fire entered their veins. The dance became a dance of seduction, of passion. It was a dance that made them remember what they had been once upon a time.

Later, the one dressed as Niou took the one dressed as Yagyuu by the hand, and led him away from the club, to his apartment. The apartment was decorated as it would have been for Yagyuu, but that was because the current Niou was Yagyuu Hiroshi on the inside.

The one dressed as Yagyuu was going to ask a few questions, but he never got the chance, because the one dressed as Niou had other things on his mind.

"In the morning," he murmured, and there were no more words that night.

-----

In the morning, Niou was himself again, and Yagyuu was Yagyuu once more.

"Have you missed me all this time, Yagyuu?" Niou asked, grinning at the man who had once been his doubles partner.

"Yes, I think I probably have."

"Why did we ever say goodbye in the first place?"

"We would have driven each other crazy."

Yagyuu was just too wise, sometimes. "It's the same now, then, isn't it." There was a long silence, and Niou knew the answer already. He grabbed his clothes, and left the apartment.

"Goodbye again, then. It was fun," he said, on his way out. He felt a pair of eyes watching him, eyes that were behind a pair of glasses that were nearly the same style they had been years ago.

-----

Niou knew why Yagyuu thought that they should stay away from each other.

In junior high, Niou and Yagyuu switched for the first time. In high school, they stopped using it, because it was a rather immature prank, and because they had quit playing tennis. In high school, they started dating.

It was sometime during the second year of high school when they started sleeping together, and it was around that time that they started fighting. They fought over stupid things, really. They never fought outright, not like some people did. They had their own system.

When Yagyuu got angry, for one reason or another (usually a prank of Niou's), he ignored Niou for a while. Niou did not like to be ignored, so he got very irritated, and started to pester Yagyuu endlessly, which only served to anger Yagyuu further.

When Niou got mad, for one reason or another (usually when Yagyuu refused to help him with a prank or even tried to stop him), then he would pester Yagyuu incessantly. That made Yagyuu angry, and when Yagyuu was angry, he would ingore Niou for a while.

They were on opposite ends of the scale, in all ways. Yagyuu was mature, and Niou really wasn't. During the third year of high school, they realized they could not stand each other. They no longer had a single thing in common, since tennis was out of their lives.

They had parted ways, then; Niou in search of adventure, and Yagyuu in search of stability.

Niou could remember all of that in perfect detail because he had never really stopped thinking about it. Yagyuu had been an addiction for him. An annoying, insufferable addiction that he had always wanted to be rid of. He could hardly stand Yagyuu on most days, but during those nights, he couldn't imagine living without him.

Then, he'd had no choice but to live without Yagyuu, and the withdrawal symptoms he'd suffered had been incredibly painful. It was like losing his other half, even if it was a half that he had fought with constantly.

Niou had never fully recovered from his addiction. He wondered if it was the same for Yagyuu.

-----

Niou was dressed as Yagyuu, sipping on a drink that Yagyuu would have really enjoyed, though it was a bit weak for Niou's taste. He was a little surprised when someone familiar sat down beside him.

"Niou-san," he said.

"I think we should give it another try," the fake Niou said. "I wasn't satisfied with your answer this morning."

"I doubt if we will be able to live with each other, especially if you are a celebrity," the fake Yagyuu said.

"We can make something up. No one has to know, and if they find out, so what? The worst case scenario is that I lose my popularity, and we have to live off your earnings. Is that so bad?"

"I'm glad that you already seem to think my money is yours," the fake Yagyuu said, a hint of humor in his voice.

"We've always been very good at sharing," the fake Niou said. They both laughed at that.

"There's only one thing," Yagyuu as Niou said to Niou as Yagyuu. "Yagyuu Hiroshi would never come to a club like this. It's too wild."

Niou as Yagyuu said to Yagyuu as Niou, "Niou Masaharu wouldn't come here either, because it's not wild enough."

That night, they ended up at an apartment decorated for Niou, that belonged to the current Yagyuu. This time, they did not decide to part ways.

From now on, they would do the switch together, or maybe they wouldn't have to do it at all. Each had found his other half once more.

They were both ready to go back to the addiction.

-----


End file.
